


All My Fault

by RoninReverie



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Akumatized Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir, Complete, Identity Reveal, Light Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-25
Updated: 2019-12-01
Packaged: 2020-03-17 00:29:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,068
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18954235
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RoninReverie/pseuds/RoninReverie
Summary: Adrien learns the truth about his father, but what happens next, no one could have predicted.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MinnieTheMoocherDA](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MinnieTheMoocherDA/gifts).



> Posted on: 5/24/19

Gabriel walked to his place in the observatory and stopped just before the grand window shutting out the beautiful view of Paris. He was already dawned in the gear of his super villain alter-ego, and Mayura was already at his side in her own, ready to put their ploys into work yet again.

“Today will be the day that all of our efforts finally pay off Nathalie, I can feel it.”

She nodded, her eyes stern but it was a hopeful gesture nonetheless. She had been helping her boss to try and capture Ladybug and Chat Noir’s Miraculouses, but if they succeeded… oh… if they succeeded… then perhaps the Agreste family would go back to the way it used to be. For Gabriel’s sake, as well as for Adrien’s, this was Nathalie’s only wish, and she would see it through, no matter what the efforts wound up costing her.

“Somewhere out there is our ticket to the Miraculouses. Now, we need only find it and then—”

_***Clunk*** _

A clatter, a small clatter, but it was enough to cause both villains to turn in shock. An intruder? Impossible! The observatory was kept in complete secret, and the hidden entrance in Gabriel’s office was the only way in or out, that he made sure of long, long ago.

And yet... who else did the two see, pressed back against the wall, but Adrien Agreste himself, his young eyes confused and hurt more than either had ever seen them, and as Gabriel's mouth dropped open in stupefied horror, Nathalie could only look into his eyes and feel her heart sink.

“Adrien!”

Papillon said his name through a shocked gasp, though despite his mask, Adrien now recognized the voice and eyes of his father. He had seen him transform, had heard his speech, and despite all of the truths piling up around him, he still couldn’t bear to believe it.

The window opened, shedding cruel rays of sunlight into the chamber, and causing all three to be illuminated just as vividly as the hundreds of white butterflies fluttering throughout the room.

Gabriel could feel the raw negative emotions swirling through his own son in strengths that he had never once sensed before, and all he could do was formulate one shocked response. Not an apology, not an excuse, just one question that took hold of every other thought inside his own mind.

“How did you get in here?”

Adrien’s breaths were hard, the shock still frozen on his face as his green eyes darted from Papillon to Mayura and back again. He shut them, clenching them so tightly that he thought if he perhaps tried hard enough, he could open them to see something else standing before him. Something else. Anything else! But... as his eyes opened, the scene did not change, and his shock faded away into confusion, and then into anger.

“What have the two of you done?”

His voice was like a whisper, the hurt in his throat audible to every ear in the observatory, but the words came out slow and steady as the young boy tried his hardest to understand.

Gabriel let out a breath.

“I know how upset you must be, but try to understand— ”

“Understand what!” He screamed, his voice enraged as he interrupted his father, no restraint bared. He shot out a fist and took a step forward, his shouts echoing off the walls like the tolling of a bell. “Understand that you two are the villains who've been tormenting all of Paris? That you will stop at nothing to get Ladybug and Chat Noir's miraculous? Father, how could you!?"

“It’s not that simple, Adrien.”

He turned at the sound of Nathalie’s voice coming from Mayura.

“And you too, Nathalie? Just how long have you been helping him?”

The pain in his eyes was too much, and she merely bowed her head and looked to Gabriel to explain this to his son. She always worried this might happen, but hoped beyond anything else that it never would. Now that it had, she had no idea what to say to him, not face to face. Not like this.

Gabriel took the hint and stepped forward, though as he did his son reflexively took a step back. He stopped and stared down at Adrien then. Adrien… his own son... who looked back up into his eyes as though meeting a stranger for the first time.

“Nathalie has known since the beginning, and her loyalty to us is unparalleled. Know that we did this for you, Adrien, and for your mother.”

“Mom? What does she have to do with all of this?”

As if on cue, Nathalie let out a cough that cut through the newfound silence in the room, and she shot her boss an apologetic look.

“What’s wrong?” Adrien asked, a bit of concern laced through his voice, but his eyes still as distrusting and wary as ever.

“Nathalie and I get our power from Miraculouses, just like Ladybug and Chat Noir. The Peacock Miraculous, which Nathalie uses, is damaged, and wearing it causes adverse effects on its user.”

“So it is not only wrong, what you two are doing, but it’s also dangerous! Why on Earth would you continue wearing it, Nathalie?”

She parted her lips to speak, but Gabriel beat her to it.

“For the same reasons as I am. For you, for your mother, and for our family!”

“You say that, but I still don’t understand. How does akumatizing the people of Paris help find Mom? Nobody knows where she is!”

“That’s not true, Son. I know deep down, you are connecting the dots together on your own. You know the truth.”

Adrien shook his head. His mother’s disappearance, Papillon’s rise, the Peacock Miraculous damaging its user— 

Of course the clues revealed a story, but the theories were far too impossible to believe. He’d wondered “why” for so long that knowing the truth now somehow just didn’t feel right.

He shook his head.

“You’re lying. You have to be lying!”

“I’m not.” Gabriel took another step forward and reached out to touch Adrien’s shoulder. “I know you must have so many questions—”

Adrien slapped his encroaching hand away and started forward.

“I don’t care what your reasons are! I can’t trust anything you say, not after all of this! I can’t believe a word said from either of you! Even if there is some truth behind what you’re saying, that doesn’t matter. Hurting people just to get what you want is selfish and wrong! You can’t just steal from someone else’s life in order to benefit your own! You just can’t!”

Papillon’s eyes were wide, but he retracted his hand and placed it back on his cane as he took a few startled steps backwards with every sharp accusation hammered into him from Adrien’s words. Nathalie could only watch, assuming all the feelings of pent up rage Adrien had been harboring towards his father were being released now like an open floodgate.

When he was finally done, his face nearly red from lack of breath, Adrien turned and started back towards the door.

“I can’t allow the two of you to get away with this. I’ll put a stop to this, all of this!”

Nathalie reached out her arm, but Gabriel held out his hand to halt her.

“Very well Adrien, go and tell whoever you’d like. Tell all of Paris if you wish, but whether or not any of them believe you, it is no different. I cannot allow you to stand in my way, not now, not when we’re so close to achieving our goal.”

“Don’t try and stop me!" 

He continued to walk away, the emotions still swelling within him.

“If you will not listen, and you will not see reason, then you leave me no choice but to find a different outlet for you to let loose your pain.”

“Sir?” Nathalie gasped, astounded by what she's hearing from the threat in her boss' voice.

A butterfly flew down into Mr. Agreste’s hand as he sent waves of negativity coursing into it, the wings gently lifting off after being corrupted.

“Your anger will be the final sacrifice I make to ensure our family is finally back together again, Adrien!”

He turned back just in time to see the akuma coming towards him and his eyes shot wide. There was no way to calm his emotions, not after this, not after such a huge betrayal to his heart. He would be akumatized and there was nothing he could do to stop the butterfly’s path. 

What would happen to Plagg if he were akumatized? What about Ladybug? Could she get to one of the other heroes in time to stop his rampage or would she be waiting for Chat Noir who would never appear to help her? It was no matter, his Lady would figure something out, she always did. Chat Noir might be out of the fight, but he knew, no matter what, that Ladybug would fix everything just like she always did, and if he could get to her, maybe he could reveal his father and Nathalie and she could help him deal with them as well.

He felt the akuma strike his skin, and struggled to fight it off to his last conscious breath.

“Ladybug will stop you!" he grunted. "Even if I can’t."

His brows were arched so low that Gabriel hardly recognized the face staring back at him from his son, but the Akuma did its work, and Adrien’s mind was his at last. 

He was too torn apart, too angry, too heartbroken to resist the akuma's influence, and to be the cause of such emotion in his own son— 

No, he would make up for it once everything was back to normal. Adrien would understand everything and forgive him once Emilie was back, Gabriel was sure of it.

“Adrien, join me and together we will repair everything that is broken, and work together to fix our family. Only then will you finally have all the answers you seek.”

Adrien bowed his head, and with a final grumble, he resisted Papillon’s voice no longer.

“Alright Father.”

He transformed, but Gabriel wasn’t sure what powers or name would become of his child. He wondered if he’d made the right decision sending Adrien out to fight Ladybug and Chat Noir, but... Adrien was his son of course... His son! He was better than all the people of Paris combined, and Adrien was smart and skilled enough to make anything a reality, even this seemingly impossible and never ending task of getting the Miraculouses of creation and destruction that he so desired.

“Bring me Ladybug and Chat Noir’s Miraculous, and then we’ll be able to make everything right, do you understand, Son?”

“I understand, Father.” Adrien looked up, the stare of wickedness almost alien on his normally kind face. He snickered and continued looking at him in such disdain before his voice chilled like ice and his words came through a snake-thin grin. “But why in the world do you think I would ever continue taking orders from you?”

Mayura gasped.

**_*KA-BOOM!*_**

****

****

Both Nathalie and Gabriel were speechless, and unable to prepare themselves for the explosion to come, and by the time the smoke cleared, Adrien was gone, the window shattered, and the collected butterflies escaping through the open glass.

The influence of the Akuma was following him, of course, and Gabriel could still sense his son even while he was on the move, but Adrien himself had gone entirely rogue from the Akuma’s control.

Mayura and Papillon stared out the window at Paris, the destruction the influenced Adrien was going to cause, and for once, Gabriel felt guilty about what he had done, both to his son and to the people of Paris. 

Adrien was too good to understand his reasons for becoming Papillon, too strong to be influenced by the Akuma completely, and he was far too dramatic  _(just like his mother)_  to just sit back and do nothing with his feelings. No, what else could he have expected but this exact outcome?

Nathalie stared her boss down, the sharp tone in her voice a contrast to his lingering shock.

“What do we do now, Gabriel?”

But he had no answer. As the two of them watched the carnage below, Gabriel felt a weight sinking down into his chest as it finally hit him. He had completely lost his only son, and there was no one else to blame for this except himself. 

“This is all my fault.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wasn't going to post this, but *shrug* what the heck? Dipping into other fandoms is fun every once and a while! XD


	2. Destruction

Adrien stopped in the middle of the street, the glass from above falling down on all sides like crystal shards of rain, each piece dissolving to sand upon contact with his body. He turned and watched it, not a single cut managing to break his skin as the Akuma's protection did its work. He laughed and did a twirl through the glass as it faltered and ran out, before he took one last look behind him at his father and Nathalie watching worriedly from above.

With a snort, he leaped over the fence and onto the street, where immediately things began to break at his touch. Cars, buildings, roads, trees... all crumbling in his grasp, some exploding upon contact, and it didn't take long before people began to run in panic, their screams fueling the sadistic excitement he felt as he toppled another structure without a care in the world. A snap of his fingers, a wave of his hand, even a simple tap and buildings crumbled at his feet.  To be so carefree, not hindered by emotion, rules, responsibility, or truths--

He laughed, running through the streets as he skid his hand across a bus, delighting in the way it crumbled apart at his touch before the gasoline caused what remained to explode.

**_*KA-BOOM!*_ **

Even the bus debris dissolved into dust upon striking him, the metal rusting away to nothing, the fire evaporating into smoke. He was truly untouchable.

Adrien, no longer himself, felt pure unopposed freedom for what was probably the first time in his entire life. Sure, being Chat Noir was uplifting and wonderful, but to be free of the constraints of heroism and the limitations of his Kwami... this... this was something far more freeing. In this one simple realization, the Akuma remained safely locked in place, and eagerly gave into Adrien's every repressed or selfish desire.

***KA-BOOM!***

He laughed madly at another explosion, watching as one car shot high into the air before slamming back down on top of another in the road. The destruction was sweet music to his ears, until something else managed to cut its way through the song.

"Adrien!"

A voice! A lovely and empowering voice that he couldn't mistake for anyone else, and hearing her, he stopped his melee, turning to face her standing a mere few feet away.

"Ah, Ladybug!" He greeted with a love-struck sigh. "I suppose you've come to stop my fun now, haven't you?"

He watched his fingers close into his own palm one at a time before stretching out his knuckles again and repeating the motion. The urge to destroy was strong, but he still had his manners after all. It was perhaps the one good thing his father drilled into him from day one. So, he could hold back his desires for a moment. For ladybug he could even do so for two.

"Adrien, your "fun" is hurting innocent people. This isn't you. The Akuma is making you do these things."

"Maybe, but I've never felt more free! I can do whatever I want and nobody can tell me no, not even you."

She pointed out to the carnage and shouted at him imploringly. 

"Look at what you're doing! Is this really what you want?"

He laughed in reply as his eyes met the destruction, his smile suddenly retracting as a reflection mimicked him in the window of the storefront across the street. Upon seeing it, he frowned and stepped closer, his eyes focused on its movements as it did the same. It was a picture of him, a magazine advertisement he remembered modelling for just a few weeks ago. The head-shot matched his reflection perfectly, and the height that it sat on the shelf was eye level with his own. The body in the glass, however, was different now and as he got closer, he realized the reflection he bore was stronger than that of the photograph. The old Adrien faded away as his new face met his eyes, his skin and hair pale, and eyes almost completely blue. His clothes were simple, a mere negative version of his own, and far less creative than any previous Akuma's design that he'd seen.

He wondered why that was?

"Is that me?" he asked aloud, his finger gently brushing the glass as a large crack snapped diagonally across the entire pane. He drew his fingers back and stared.

Ladybug's voice was closer now, as her reflection approached him with a gentle caution.

"It will be okay, Adrien. We can talk about what's caused this, but please, tell me where the Akuma is hiding and let me save you first."  

Her hand came down on his shoulder and she screamed as she pulled it back, steam coming from her suit's fingertips as she rapidly shook the heat away.

"I can't be touched, Ladybug." Adrien informed softly. "That way nobody will ever be able to hurt me again."

"Nobody will be able to comfort you either." Ladybug frowned. "Surely there must be some people you can place your trust in? People who love you and want to be close to you. What about your friends? What about me?"

He opened his mouth to speak, but was unsure of what to say. He stared at her hand, the comfort he'd scorned away, and then back to his new reflection before closing his eyes in sadness.

"Adrien, I promise that I'd never do anything to hurt you. I only want to help you."

She was truly worried about his well-being, already reaching out her hand to him again, willing to be close to him even though she knew he'd hurt her, and for just a fleeting moment, Adrien wondered if perhaps she was right.

That moment, as well as the second one, passed quickly and Adrien's face grew angry as he started to shake his head and turn his shoulder away from her touch.

"I'm sorry... but I don't think even you could help me this time, Ladybug."

His hands came down quickly as Ladybug yelled, too late to stop him as the streets and pavement below crumpled apart into a shattered eruption of debris.

Ladybug went high for cover, before the foundation began to crumble and she faltered. Still, she managed to pull herself up to higher ground and looked down at him with her signature determined glare.

"Now things are about to get even more fun."

His frown flipped into a smile, and in that moment, their battle was already in motion whether they wanted it or not.

 

* * *

 

"Where is that cat?" Ladybug grumbled. "Of all the days to be missing..."

Already her yo-yo was missing hunks of its carapace. She couldn't touch Adrien directly with it, and if she attempted to do so again, it might break entirely. No, she needed Chat Noir, his destructive abilities were so similar to what Adrien's powers manifested as, he would surely know a way to counter, maybe even defeat it.

She tried to call him again, the damage causing a brief moment of static before the connection finally went through.

"Pick up... pick up..."

_Nothing._

She tilted her head back and stared up at the sky, the one unbroken thing left in Paris. With a sigh, she ended her call and closed her eyes. She had to think, had to figure this out on her own. Maybe Chat Noir was on his way, or worse, maybe he was compromised? She would have to put the worries out of her mind or else she would never save Adrien. Still, there was nothing she wished to have more in this moment than to have her partner here to clear her thoughts.

_***Rumble*** _

The building suddenly started to shake, snapping her out of her sulking with just enough time to jump to another part of the rooftops before the structure collapsed beneath her feet.

"Forgive me Ladybug, but the two of us aren't through playing yet," Adrien called, taunting her yet again. How he kept finding her, she wasn't sure, but it was almost as if he knew how to counter every move she made.

She grumbled and did the only thing she had left to do... She turned around to face him head on.

"This isn't a game!"

"Isn't it? It sure feels like a game of cat and mouse to me?"

He laughed.

"That's it!" Ladybug gasped suddenly. "A game! If Adrien thinks this is a game, then I just need to find a few extra players to help." She turned and shouted down to Adrien with a playful voice. "Hey Adrien! I call for a time-out!"

"A time out?" He grinned the words. "What for?"

"Don't you think a game this fun should be opened to more players?"

"You want to invite more superheroes to give yourself an advantage?" He scoffed, frowning as if he didn't like the idea before his lips flipped vertically and he began to nod. "You know... that's not a bad idea. You _are_ more used to fighting with a sidekick, and yours seems to be missing today! Maybe if you find a replacement I wont have to go so easy on you. It'll really give me a chance to see what I can do. Alright! Fine! You can have your time out."

"While I'm gone, you can't play without me! Understand? It wouldn't be fair!"

He pouted again, clenched his fists, but released them and shrugged in agreement.

"Makes sense. I wouldn't want you to accuse me of cheating. Okay Ladybug, I'll be waiting right here for you to come back. Bring as many people as you want, but try not to go away for too long. Who knows what could happen when I get bored enough?"

She nodded, frowning at the veiled threat, before shooting away across the carnage of Paris to find people she could rally to her side. If, that is, there were any people left.

 

* * *

 

Quickly enough, Ladybug approached the street that was once her own, but the entire block seemed to be destroyed. Not only that, but the people had all evacuated so the entire area was deserted. The bakery, her home, her balcony... Marinette could only stare at the pile of stone where it once stood. Her parents were safe, thank goodness, but they would certainly be worried sick about her. Yet another worry for later, because for now she needed to dig. The kwami box had to be buried somewhere under all this rubble.

"Come on, where are you, where are you?"

It was no use. She was only one person. There would be no way for her to dig through all of these rocks on her own. She wondered if she should use the Lucky Charm, but would that really help with unearthing the Kwami Box, or would it waste precious time that Adrien was quickly counting down a few blocks away.

"Even if I can find the box," Ladybug muttered. "There's no way anyone who could use it stayed back here where it's so dangerous."

With a disgruntled sigh, she picked herself up and took off into the air to the tallest structure she could still see standing. Paris was in ruins, the people all gone, and for the first time she truly felt completely alone as she stared into the empty city.

"No, of course not. I'm sure everyone's made it out to safety by now, and with Chat Noir missing... I have nobody in Paris who can help me now. I'm on my own."

"I wouldn't say that, Ladybug."

She jumped at the dark tones and instinctually clenched her fists, turning around to lay out a strike before her hand was blocked and parried away.

"Papillon and Mayura" She spat acidly. "What are you two doing here?"

"Rest assured, Ladybug, we are not here to fight." Papillon said with a trained sense of reserved patience.

Mayura chimed in with a gentle, "we aren't here for your miraculous this time either."

"What?"

Marinette could not understand what was happening, nor did she trust it. Whatever game the two super villains were up to didn't sit right with her and she remained on defensive alert for the moment the two decided to strike.

"Akumatizing Ad-- That young man--" Papillon said, that reserved tone shifting through his voice again. "It was the worst possible mistake I could have made."

"This coming from the man who akumatized a baby and Monsieur Ramier on more than one occasion?"

She shot him a look and Mayura as well before the two took a deep breath to remain composed.

"Despite many-- _unorthodox_ akumatizations in the past, I'm afraid this vessel has become too powerful to control and is now wreaking havoc completely against my will."

Ladybug's eyes narrowed.

"That "vessel" is named Adrien Agreste, and whatever he's going through is tough enough without you sneaking in and exploiting his pain for your own selfish gain!"

His frown deepened.

"This is my fault," he nodded. "I never wanted this, truly. I know you have every right to not trust me, but we are running out of time. The longer Adrien remains under the akuma's rogue influence, the stronger the connection between them will grow. His power is pure destruction and once Paris is all but in ruin, I fear his targets will spread on a global scale unless we manage to stop him here and now."

She gritted her teeth, but weighed the facts over in her mind before letting out a _***tsk***_ with her tongue.

"If you really want to clean up your mess, then you two are going to do things my way, understand?"

"We will follow your lead, Ladybug," Mayura agreed.

"At least until this ordeal is over," Papillon growled in a lower tone, the amusement rising as he added, "Then you can consider this temporary alliance null and void, and we part ways as though none of this ever happened."

"You expect me to just let you go after what you've done?"

They smiled at her.

"If you wish to save Adrien and the rest of the world, it is your only option."

He held out his hand.

"Do we have a deal?"

Marinette felt a sickened chill run up her spine just starring at that outstretched hand. She took it and gave it one firm grip before releasing him and rubbing it off on her uniform.

"Fine, but I've got my eye on the two of you. Maybe we really can overpower Adrien if we can all manage to work together for a little while?"

"For the sake of everything else, Ladybug... I'm afraid we have no other choice but for the three of us to succeed."

"Then let's move. We don't have a second to lose."


	3. Null

"I really don't think we should be in here Adrien..."

"Calm down, Plagg, it's just my house..." Adrien looked around. "A completely secret, mysterious part of the house I never knew existed."

"Well I don't like it! You shouldn't go snooping around in creepy dark places like this that you just find by accident! Unless of course there's a super secret cheese cellar down here somewhere, but call me crazy, I really don't think we're that lucky."

Adrien smirked and shot him a look over his shoulder.

"It'll be fine. This is probably just something from the landscaping built here hundreds of years ago. Paris is an old city. It didn't always used to be my house after all. These tunnels could potentially lead us to anywhere in the city. Isn't that cool?"

"Yeah, cool..." Plagg replied, sounding bored.

"Oh cool, look Plagg, there's an elevator!" 

"Be careful Adrien! What if it's a screaming metal deathtrap? It could be ancient! Rotting! Decayed!"

"No." he frowned, studying the design. "It looks fairly new. I think it's been refurbished, and maybe even used recently? I wonder by who?"

"Probably a burglar," Plagg said quickly. "We should just go back to your room where things are safe and make sense."

Adrien rolled his eyes and accessed the panel allowing the doors to slide open. His smile was a direct contrast to his Kwami's and he took a step in before feeling a small tug on his shirt collar.

"Wait! We don't know where that even goes! It could go up. It could go down! We don't know where we'll wind up!"

"It'll be fine, Plagg. We can handle anything that could possibly be scary down here as long as we're together, right?"

Plagg stared at the earnest young boy's eyes and drooped in defeat.

"Right..." he sighed. "Alright. First floor, Creepy Dark Unknown, all aboard."

Adrien chuckled and the two entered the elevator. He looked around but only saw a single button, pushing it as the metal doors sealed shut, and the whole thing suddenly began to move upward.

"What do you know, it does work!?"

"Hold on! You thought it wouldn't?!"

Adrien only laughed in response, Plagg rethinking his life's choices before the contraption stopped and opened to reveal a plain, empty dark room.

"Whoa..." both awed, peaking their heads out the door and surveying the area.

"What is this place?"

As Adrien stepped out, the elevator closed and retracted down into the floor. Plagg let out a shriek and phased through the door and over to Adrien as both watched it disappear alongside the faint light it gave off.

"Oh great! Now we're trapped in here! No way out! No food! I can't even remember the last time I had a delicious piece of Camembert!" He gasped loudly. "What if it was my last one and I don't even remember it!?"

"Calm down Plagg, the elevator is probably just on a sensor, besides, you literally ate a piece of cheese ten minutes ago before we found the access tunnel."

"That long!?" He heaved dramatically.

Adrien smirked and took out one of the spare pieces of cheese he kept in his shirt pocket, something which Plagg happily perked up and flew over to eat.

"There. Now promise me that will hold you over until we get back to my room."

"Oh, alright, but I'd like to go on record and say that this is bribery and I am completely against it."

"Duly noted. Now help me look around. There might be some kind of light switch or something in here someplace."

Plagg groaned and looked around, shooting from corner to corner before wandering back to the light of Adrien's phone.

"I didn't see anything. It's just a big empty igloo shape."

"Maybe it's like a domed attic or something? Huh? I wonder if--"

"Watch out, Adrien!" Plagg warned.

He froze.

"What! What is it?"

 "Your foot. Look down. You were about to step on that butterfly."

"Butterfly?" he repeated, looking confused down at his foot only to see a single white butterfly on the floor, its wings slowly clapping in its idle stance. "Oh wow, it really is a butterfly. Good catch, Plagg."

"What's a little bug like that doing in a gross place like this? Shouldn't they be-- you know-- in the sky and stuff?"

"I guess it wandered in the same way we did? Hold on--" He shined his light across the floor and gasped, noticing now the entire swarm of white butterflies resting along the ground. A few started to flutter into the air when the light hit them, but most remained still.

"That's a lot of lost butterflies..."

Adrien frowned.

"What's going on up here?"

_***WHOOSH!*** _

The elevator started to rumble and both Plagg and Adrien jumped at the noise of it behind them.

"Oh... someone's coming! What should we do?"

"Hide Plagg!" Adrien ordered, running over the the backside of the entrance and taking cover behind the small protective wall blocking the hole from the rest of the floor. "I guess we're about to get some answers."

"Something about this doesn't quite sit right in my stomach."

"You always say that. Remember, we'll be fine as long as we're together."

"Right." Plagg nodded. "As long as we're together. Look out, Adrien, here it comes."

The elevator appeared and Adrien waited to see who or what might step out of it. Little did he realize, the answer was about to change his life forever.

 

* * *

 

"I'm sorry Plagg," Adrien said softly down towards his ring, the crumbled street surrounding him in a makeshift fortress as he sat cross legged waiting for Ladybug to return. "It's my fault you're stuck in there. Can you hear me? Are you akumatized too? Hello?"

There was no answer.

"I guess it's not as easy as we thought it'd be... being fine. Learning the truth. You were right, we should have just gone back to my room."

There was another itch and Adrien quelled it my crumbling yet another rock in his hand and setting the dust free in the air.

"Is that feeling you, Plagg? Is this what you feel like all the time? I never knew how hard it was to keep all this power held back for you. I'm sorry I didn't understand. I wish I could tell you that. I wonder if you're still with me somewhere? That might be a fun thing to test later when I get bored. And I am starting to get really bored..."

He growled and started to grow more impatient, his thoughts and empty conversation to the missing Plagg growing old as he kicked out at another scrap of debris and watched it decay around his foot.

"Agh! This is pointless! Where is Ladybug? Do you think she ran away? Does she expect me to stand around and wait forever?" 

"Think again!" Ladybug called, her voice echoing along the breeze of the empty city.

Adrien smiled and turned to face her.

"Ah, if it isn't my lad-- _oof!"_

_***SMACK!*** _

Something hard struck his face, not actually hitting the skin hard enough to feel pain, but enough for the force of it to spin him around in the other direction.

"Hey!" He shouted. "What's the big ide--"

He cut off at the sight of the man before him, a fraction of his cane cracked from the contact with Adrien's face. It was Papillon. It was his father! To the other side was Mayura and in the middle, Ladybug. The sight of the three of them, and all together no less, made absolutely no sense at all.

"You were so desperate for players that you recruited these two? Seriously?" He started to laugh. "How pathetic!" He stopped suddenly and tilted his head. "Or would it be ironic?" He took a step forward, all three moving with him but keeping the distance between them. "Did they tell you what happened to me, Ladybug? Did they tell you why I got akumatized in the first place? Why they aren't able to control me anymore and no doubt came crawling to you on their knees for help?"

Ladybug shot a look to Mayura and Papillon.

"What does he mean?"

"It's not important!" Papillon growled. "Remember the plan. Don't let him distract you."

She grumbled, but he had a point. All would be revealed once Adrien and Paris was safe again. Until then, she would need to be patient.

"Alright. You know what to do."

They split up, Mayura slipping away before Adrien could see where, just as Papillon and Ladybug attacked him head on. 

He debated just standing there to see them fail, but that was no fun. Instead, he picked up a small pipe and parried Papillon's cane as he and Ladybug alternated poorly coordinated attacks against him. The two were simply not compatible as partners, no surprises there. What he really ought to be on the look out for was Mayura and whatever she was plotting in the shadows.

"You're probably regretting all those fencing lessons now, aren't you?"

"What?" Ladybug asked.

Papillon growled.

"Nothing! Keep going!"

"By the way, where'd _"Mayura"_ run off to? Care to share with the rest of the class?"

The way he mocked Mayura's name made Gabriel's heart race. Now he was just teasing his secret identity to the enemy. _His and Nathalie's!_ Adrien was enjoying the twisted revelry of it too... something that itched Gabriel's patience, as he continued lashing out with his cane.

"She wasn't feeling well," Papillon mocked back. "She decided to sit this one out."

"And whose fault is that?" Adrien's brow lifted. "I guess there's no accounting for taste in the company some people chose to keep."

Papillon growled again, his attacks increasing, though none causing Adrien even the slightest hindrance as he evaded them without breaking a sweat. His movements were somewhat familiar to Ladybug, and he certainly had the reflexes of a super hero. It was a shame the snake miraculous never worked out for him.

 _Later, Ladybug..._ Marinette thought to herself.  _Remember the plan._

They continued their fight before Adrien ducked and allowed Ladybug and Papillon to slam into one another and fall to the ground. 

"Watch where you're going!" He snarled, rising to his feet again.

Ladybug stood on her own and dusted herself off before putting up her fists and rushing forward.

"I know what I'm doing! You're supposed to be following _MY_ lead, remember?"

Adrien yawned, his pipe striking the deciding blow against his father before his free hand ripped the cane away from him and turned it to sand in his grasp. The look on Papillon's face afterwards was priceless, and he discarded his own weapon, bored of it too, only to dodge simple strikes coming from both of their lackluster unarmed attacks. It was funny for a few minutes, but after another couple it just started to get boring, and then it quickly turned sad and pathetic.

"Okay, let's be realistic. You two have absolutely no chemistry. Your forms are sloppy, you're running into each other, and there is zero strategy between either of you. I'd expect this much from him, but you, Ladybug? Is this honestly the best you can do? There is absolutely no possible way either of you can defeat me together. You're better off fighting alone at this point."

"You're probably right." Ladybug smirked. "Good thing we aren't trying to defeat you."

"What?"

"Now!" Papillon shouted.

_***THUD*** _

_***THUD*** _

_***THUD*** _

"What is that sound?"

The rhythmic thudding grew louder and closer, the ground quaking as a huge creature rounded the corner and continued stepping towards them.

It was a monstrous form, made entirely of the debris of Paris, and as ugly as it was to look at, it was definitely huge and definitely daunting. 

"Is that an Amok?" Adrien started, before laughing. "Bring it on! I can't be touched, remember?"

"That's what I'm counting on..."

The way Ladybug said that, the confidence in her tone, it shook his resolve for a moment before the massive garbage monster slammed down on top of them.

Ladybug and Papillon were able to jump and roll out of the way, but Adrien welcomed the chance to see just how quickly the entire junk pile could corrode at his fingertips.

It... it was taking a little longer than he'd hoped, and after a few more seconds, he was starting to feel claustrophobic.

"Get off of me!" He shouted, each fragment dissolving, but another piece of scrap or concrete taking its place like a never ending avalanche. Within a few more moments he started to break through to sunlight, but each time it was blocked and blacked back out. He roared out in frustration, pushing his power with only one thing on his mind, and that being his escape from his junk monster.

"How long will that hold him?" Ladybug asked.

"Not long," Mayura panted. "I gathered anything I could find, as much as I could collect. It will keep him busy, but when he gets down to the last of it, I managed to layer a large amount of plastic that should take longer for him to destroy, assuming his power corrodes like normal degradation." 

"Let me out of here!" Adrien shouted again from within the pile.

"Okay." Ladybug nodded, her worry for the voice within only on her face for a second before readying her yo-yo."Let's get ready."

After a few moments and plenty of shouting, Adrien's upper body broke free, but the plastic layer of the monstrous Amok slammed its arm down on him and pinned him against the road, which also started to crack beneath his touch. 

"Now! You have to do it now!" Mayura shouted, her vision going weak as she coughed violently after.

"No fair!" Adrien grunted. "You guys aren't playing fair!"

"It will all be over soon." Papillon frowned. "Then this fragile alliance will be at an end."

Ladybug shot him a crude look, but nodded.

"Alright. Now, where did you place the Akuma?" 

Papillon pointed to the white ring on his son's finger, Adrien's arms flailing out at the piles of garbage fighting against him.

Ladybug was already starting to approach, the Amok sinking as its last layer of restraint slowly dissolved and melted away.

"It's about to be over Adrien, don't worry. I've got you!"

"No! I'm not ready to go back yet! I don't like this! I can't go back! Not yet! Not yet! I don't know what I'm supposed to do! I can't face them! I can't forgive them!" Adrien shouted, glaring at all of them, until finally landing on his father's eyes. "Especially you, Father."

"Father?" Ladybug gasped, turning back to Papillon for a fraction of a second before a single word made the entire world slow down before her.

"Plagg!"

She turned back, her eyes going wide as the Negative Adrien's ring began to glow. Mayura and Papillon could only stare in shock as well as the final words screamed out from Adrien's lips.

"Transform me!" 

A eerie chill crawled up each one of their spines, a white pulse of energy firing what was left of the Amok into the sky and back down the ground with a distant crash. A small, white figure, something bobbing out of the ring like a jellyfish turned suddenly into a still specter, a familiar tail and whisker-like strings upon it. Marinette felt her blood freeze. She had seen this image only once in the book Master Fu had given her, but still she simply could not believe her eyes.

"A Null..."

The breath came out cold, both she and Papillon backing away slowly as the spectral Null waited before them.

It let out a silent screech, but that sound still managed to send stings all through out her body, pain ringing her ears where her jewelry rested, and causing her uniform to flicker and fade apart. Papillon was screaming just the same, as was Mayura, who distantly fell to her knees in agony before detransforming.

Papillon was next, his Kwami, the butterfly, appearing to her for the first time with a look of terror on its face as it fell to the road. Even through the pain, she could see Gabriel Agreste panting on the cracked ground, relieved of his pain, but still in shock to be so suddenly ripped out of his alter ego. Behind them, Mayura was gone and his assistant, Nathalie lay defeated in her place, the peacock miraculous on her chest as its Kwami shook fearfully beside her.

Finally it was her turn. Despite her best efforts, even the connection she had with Tikki wasn't enough to keep them together and as she felt the magic ripped away from her in a single instant. Her uniform vanished and Tikki fell limply into her hands as she dove to catch her from falling before both of them skid against the pavement.

"Marinette?" she asked weakly.

"Tikki! I--"

"Marinette?" Adrien repeated, the shock in his voice making him sound more like himself for a moment.

Both looked to him and saw the Nullified Plagg inching slowly through the air and over to where Adrien stood.

"You cannot allow him to transform!" Tikki coughed quickly. "Their destruction put together would amplify and destroy the whole--"

Another screech silenced her, the other kwami's falling deeper to the ground as well.

Unsure of what to do, powerless, shocked beyond all reason, Marinette only stared as Adrien stood and began walking towards the Null.

She wracked up all of her courage and energy to shout, "Don't do this Adrien!"

"I'm sorry Marinette..." He said back, and the look on his face showed that he meant it. "But I'm not strong enough to fight it anymore."

"Yes you are Adrien! You're the strongest, bravest person I know!"

"No, my lady, that would be you."

"But I can't be that without you. Ladybug can't be brave without Chat Noir there to fight beside her."

"That isn't true."

"It is! Think about it! When we fist met, you were always so sure and ready to fight, while I was timid and didn't know what to do. It was because of you that I stepped up and learned how to be a hero. Without you, I would just be clumsy Marinette making a mess out of everything. Whenever I'm feeling unsure or scared your always right there to make me feel better. Chat Noir, you aren't my sidekick, you're my partner. Whether it's Ladybug or Marinette or Chat Noir, or Adrien, you've always been there for both of us and... and I can't do it without you there... I love you, and I need you... both of you..."

Adrien faltered, his hand inches from the silent Null.

"Please Adrien..." she said, mouthing the words so quietly that it was a miracle he'd even heard her at all.

He held himself still, the Null slowly rotating on an axis to turn and face him. Adrien felt a rush of fear and excitement shoot through him, unsure as to which feeling represented his own. Even if he could keep himself restrained, Plagg might not allow the two to stay unconnected now that he'd ordered him to transform.

"H-help me Mar-- M- My lady... I- I can't hold this back for long."

She looked around the ground for anything, but nothing was coming to mind. She had no ideas, and she looked back to Adrien, her body still on the ground, hard to move, her eyes searching his desperately for answers. His were searching hers as well, but neither were able to find anything that they didn't already have... helplessness, fear, and a an entire boatload of regrets. 


	4. The End & Epilogue

"Nooroo!" Tikki called.

The Kwami started to float over but Gabriel, despite his own pain, did not hesitate to reach out and stop him.

"No! Nooroo, stay! I forbid it!"

The Kwami froze, flinched, and then realized for the first time in so, so long, that he was still able to move forward despite being given a direct order. For once, he had complete control over his own movements!

"Nooroo! I said I order you to come here! Now!"

 _Was it the Null's scream that severed them?_   It had to be. Either way, Nooroo ignored Gabriel's constant calls after him and slowly drifted over to Tikki. Both weak and barely floating a few inches off the road, but he made it over and she caught him and gave him a small hug.

"It's good to see you again, Tikki." He laughed weakly. "That was the first time I was able to disobey my master's orders! It was exhilarating!"

"I'm glad you're free, and it is good to see you, but I just wish it were under better circumstances. Can't you retract the Akuma?" she asked.

Weakly, Nooroo coughed and shook his head.

"No, I think it's because the butterfly landed in the miraculous and Plagg is so much stronger than me, I can't get a connection when he's like this."

"Is there anything we can do?" a second voice interrupted from behind.

"Duusu?" 

The peacock floated up to them, waving as she greeted them with a tired, but chipper smile.

"Hi Tikki! Is Plagg okay? He seems different than what I remember. Then again... It's been sooooo long!" She giggled. "My memory might not be completely right anymore."

"He's turned into a Null, Duusu. This is really bad. I knew that Nulls existed, but I'm not sure how to try and stop him."

"Well we need to do it before he's able to connect with his user," Nooroo frowned. "Or else the calamity he would possess would completely overpower the human side of his wearer."

"I know a thing or two about being corrupted--" Duusu grinned. "Maybe all he needs is a little love and care? That could fix Plagg right up, don't you think?"

"That's it!" Tikki exclaimed.

"It is?"

"It is?" Duusu smiled. "Yay! I did it! What did I do?"

"I have an idea, but I need you to lend me your strength so I can reach him."

"Alright Tikki, I trust you." Nooroo said, outstretching his arm to tap her on the shoulder and one of her spots started to glow as the small bit of energy flushed into her.

Dusuu did the same on the other side, the other spot lighting up as well as the rush of power was gifted to her.

"Okay!" Tikki said, a bit of strength coming back to her voice. "Wish me luck."

"G-good luck!" They said breathlessly each in their own ways.

Tikki nodded and motioned them down.

"You two should rest here."

"S-sounds good... phew... I'm suddenly really sleepy. I think I'll take a nap."

"Go get em' Tikki! We believe in you."

She nodded and flew off, her path darting directly for Marinette.

"Tikki!" Marinette gasped. "Thank goodness. Are you okay?"

"I'm feeling much better thanks to Nooroo and Duusu," she said, gesturing back to them. "Quick, I have an idea Marinette, but I'm going to need your help to do it."

"Of course, Tikki, anything!"

"Okay! Can you stand?"

Marinette struggled but slowly got to her knees and then to a wobbly stance afterwards.

"Y-yeah! I'm okay, I can walk."

"I'm sorry to ask this of you, Marinette."

"No Tikki, it'll be fine. So long as we're together we can do this! I know it."

She hugged Marinette's cheek.

"Thank you, Marinette. Alright then, you know what to say."

"Right!" she nodded firmly. "Tikki! Spots on!"

She transformed quickly, her energy a fraction of what it normally was, but much stronger than how she had felt due to the Null's shrieks.

"Alright, let's do this together, Tikki! Lucky Charm!"

A ring box fell into her hands a moment after, the spots blinking immediately to Adrien and then to his ring before coming back to the box in her hand. 

"Of course! Why didn't I think of that?" Ladybug smiled, coming back to the moment and getting as close as she could to Plagg and Adrien's positions. As she did, the Null shot its attention towards her in one swift motion, the ominous energy and anger within it could be felt piercing through her entire being. Still, Marinette continued forward, keeping her distance, and praying that the Null would need to charge itself more before it screamed again and stole what little energy she and Tikki had left.

"Adrien!" She called.

"Ladybug? You're back!" He smiled, struggling between gritted teeth just to stay in control. "I know that look. You have a plan?" 

"I do. You need to take off your ring!"

"My ring? But why?"

"You're not really the one akumatized, Adrien! It's Plagg! The akuma is latched onto him, not you. He's only trying to protect you! You have to take off your miraculous and give it to me so I can fix him."

Adrien frowned.

"B-but... Plagg..."

"It'll be okay, I promise, but you have to trust me."

"I don't want to leave him. It's my fault he's like this. We were supposed to do this together. I--" He paused.

A voice was telling him to ignore her. This was Marinette after all. _How many lies had she and Ladybug told him over the years?_

"No..." He grunted. "That was to protect our identities. I-- I trust Ladybug! I-- I t-trust Marinette!"

The voices grew louder, the Null inhaling deeply to let out another scream and take her out. Without Ladybug, the luck charm would vanish, the yo-yo would be gone, and there'd be no saving anybody. Despite the voices telling him that was what he wanted, Adrien knew better and he latched onto whatever bit of heroic insight he had left to keep thinking it. 

"This is wrong." He sighed, a tear leaving his eye as he watched the being that used to be Plagg about to destroy the entire world just to keep him safe. "Plagg... you're the best friend I ever had, but-- but you don't have to protect me anymore. We'll make things right and figure it out together... all of us. You, me, Ladybug... all of our friends. It's not over. This isn't the end. We have to do this though, or else everything and everyone will disappear."

Struggling, he reached into his pocket and pulled out the last piece of Camembert he had. The cheese aging rapidly in his touch. It didn't matter though, the Null could smell it immediately and forgot all about its shriek as it rotated back to lock eyes on the delectable smelling morsel. 

"That's right. If there's no world, there's no Camembert either. We don't want that to happen, right?"

It was a flicker, just a small moment, but the voices and the anger dissipated for that small window, and in doing so, Adrien dropped the cheese and was able to quickly pull his ring off before gravity even allowed the food to hit the ground. The Null, shocked, started to screech, but Ladybug was already on top of things. The ring went into the box, Adrien returned to normal, and her yo-yo scooped in the Null, akuma and all in one fell swoop.

The carapace started to turn black and crack apart from the inside out, the overwhelming senses of destruction and anger corrupting her mind and body before Marinette snapped back to reality and shook the negativity away.

"Time to de-evilize!" She shouted and just before the yo-yo could crumble apart, it took the magic, and both a single white butterfly and a lethargic black Kwami flew out of the light and into the box. She tossed Adrien's ring and the lucky charm into the sky, her voice victorious as she shouted at the top of her lungs. "Miraculous Ladybug!"

Within moments, Paris was back to normal, the sky blue again, birds and people already making the sweet noises of life and living return to the city.

Gabriel and Mayura got their energy back and were able to stand, all the Kwami regaining their full strengths and cheering as they flew happily through the air.

"Adrien!" Marinette shouted, looking down as he started to rise and rub his head.

"Marinette-- er-- I guess I should say Ladybug." He smiled. "You did it!"

"We did it!" She reached forward and hugged him.

He held her back and smiled for a short while, enjoying the touch before he leaned back.

"Wait! What about Plagg?"

"Right here!" she smiled, handing him the ring. The Miraculous Ladybugs were able to heal him too. He's just waiting for you to put this on again."

"Thank you. So much..."

"I know how close a Kwami's bond is supposed to be with the right person. You're definitely friends and it shows." She frowned and turned around. "Speaking of which..."

Gabriel and Nathalie glared back at her, Duusu and Nooroo floating beside them, their control gone and at the bidding of their user's orders once more.

"Now that our secret is out, what do you plan to?"

"Well, I'll be taking your Kwamis for starters. You two have abused their power and mistreated them for long enough."

In the background, Adrien and Plagg were reuniting before both nodded and one flash later, Chat Noir was standing beside Ladybug with his arms crossed.

"I suggest you hand over your miraculouses. Nathalie. Gabriel."

Gabriel's eye twitched at the sound of his own name coming out of Adrien's mouth. After a moment, the returning citizens began to appear in the streets, onlookers, news stations, and police alike. Every eye in Paris had to be on them now, and Gabriel was smart enough to realize he was at the end of his road. There was nothing more he could do to get out of this situation unnoticed.

"Very well." He said, unclipping his broach. "Take it."

Nathalie did the same with hers and both handed them over to Ladybug and Chat Noir.

"It's over."

"Perhaps it is... though I leave you with a few final words of warning. Be careful who you trust with that miraculous, Ladybug. I guarantee that I will not be the last Papillon Paris sees in our lifetime."

Ladybug shut her eyes, her brows never faltering as she stared him down and said, "I know." 

"Uh..." Officer Roger eased. "Is what we're seeing actually happening here, Ladybug?"

A microphone was in her face a moment later, Nadja Chamack asking, "Is it true? Is renowned fashion designer, Gabriel Agrestse, and his assistant, Nathalie Sancoeur, really the true faces behind Paris' greatest super villains, Papillon and Mayura?"

Ladybug took a step back and offered the spotlight to Chat Noir. This was his story to tell, and she would allow him to do so in his own way. 

He nodded to her and took the microphone, solemnly looking at the two before sighing and leaning down into the microphone.

"It's true."

Shocked gasps and voices cried out all over Paris as onlookers and viewers at home were shocked to see the news. The cuffs were on them a moment later, news crews all clamoring to ask them questions as to their motives and why they did it. The next few minutes of speaking and answering questions were a hazy blur for Chat Noir before finally Ladybug's earrings began to flash in warning.

"That's my cue," she said. "I trust you to take care of the rest, officers?"

He nodded.

"Of course Ladybug. Chat Noir. Thank you again for all the help." 

She turned to leave and motioned back to her partner.

"Chat Noir, are you coming?"

He blinked a moment, not used to having permission to follow her when she was about to transform back. Now that they knew who the other was, he supposed there was no reason to keep hiding it any longer.

"I'll catch up. There's one last thing I want to say to them."

Ladybug frowned, placed a sympathetic hand against his cheek, and then nodded before she took off into the air and vanished on the other side of the building.

With that, Chat Noir marched over to the police car and looked down at the window where his father and Nathalie sat in handcuffs.

"Can I ask you something?"

They both looked up to him, saying nothing as Adrien met their eyes.

"Was it worth it?"

Gabriel watched him, Nathalie looking between the two before the man silently bowed his head.

"When you get home, take the elevator downstairs." he said simply. "I trust you will take care of her?"

Now Adrien stared, the pleading, defeated look making his father's face look old and tired.

"I will."

Gabriel didn't look back up, but Nathalie could swear that she saw a small smile on his face despite everything else.

"Good luck you two... I mean that."

Nathalie nodded, her smile small and polite, though it was an overall empty gesture. They knew that this was the outcome. A life of crime did not go unpunished, and even if they would spend the rest of their lives behind bars, they had a story that no one else in the world could scarcely comprehend.

"It was a good run, sir." 

"Just not good enough."

A tear escaped Chat Noir's green eye, and with that, he turned and slowly walked to the end of the police line before extending his staff and leaping into the air after Ladybug.

Nathalie held Grabriel's hand in hers as both looked out the window at him vanishing over the horizon of the city streets. Even though he had lost, he couldn't help but wonder if maybe it was for the best. He had exhausted his every resource trying and failing to save Emilie. Perhaps Adrien would be able to succeed where he had failed? That was what children were best at, after all. With that in mind, Gabriel could only smile as he watched his son go, the potential to do right making him feel proud despite all the faults he'd made in his life.

"Take care, son."

 

* * *

 

# EPILOGUE

The next few weeks were rough. Everyone was trying to get information out of Adrien, but his main caretaker and bodyguard kept the worst of them at bay. Now that it was just the two of them, he was allowed to do whatever he wanted _(within safety reasons, that is)_. For that reason and more, Adrien canceled all of his extracurriculars, aside fencing of course, and also removed his face from the modeling scene, refusing photo shoots and using his product royalties to continue to pay for his schooling and bills back home.

He deserved a small break, and a bit of time out of the limelight. When they needed money again, he'd figure something out. He had his friends and people who loved him there to help, and they came over all the time to check on him and make sure he was okay. Adrien found himself with the freedom to be a normal high schooler for the first time in his life, and aside the paparazzi, which had started to die down now that the story wasn't as fresh news, and aside his mother, who he found in a glass casket in a garden basement deep within the catacombs... things were slowly starting to become his new normal.

What happened to his mother was something he wasn't entirely sure of. She had been sick like Nathalie, which meant she could have been the original owner of the peacock miraculous, and part of the reason it and the butterfly were stolen all those years ago. There was more to that story, more faces and crimes he just couldn't piece together yet, but it was what it was.

He made sure she was connected each morning, not dead, just waiting, almost like Snow White from the old princess story. He'd find a way to help her somehow, but not in the same way his father had. With Ladybug there to help, he and Marinette have been researching the history of the miraculouses together to try and find a cure. 

"Marinette!" He called, waving happily as he stepped out of his car. He turned back through the window and gave a soft fist bump to his bodyguard. "Thanks for the ride. I'll see you after school, okay?"

The man nodded and smiled, driving off with full certainty that Adrien would be alright for yet another day at school. He was happy because Adrien was happy, and that was something that hadn't been true in a long, long time.

As the car disappeared around the corner, Marinette lunged for him before the two spun around in a hug and then settled in for a quick kiss.

"So!" Marinette said quickly, breaking away and waving her notebook in front of his face. "Did you finish your paper for Ms. Mendeleiev?"

"Got it right here!" He waved back. " Plagg helped. When I told him our project was about the process of making cheese, he practically wrote three papers all on his own."

"That sounds like him."

"Hey!" Plagg's voice called out softly from inside Adrien's jacket.

"I think they meant it as a compliment, silly." Tikki added, her voice muffled in Marinette's bag.

They all laughed.

Oh, by the way. How's the design for the new school logo coming along?"

"Ugh!" She groaned dramatically. "I can't think of anything to put down! Every time I draw something I end up hating about halfway through! Gah! Why does my brain never work when I need it to!?"

Adrien laughed.

"You'll figure out the right thing to do, Marinette, you always do."

She smiled and nudged him gently with her elbow.

"Thanks for that. You wouldn't want to come over later today for diner and to help bounce ideas off each other, do you?"

"I'd love to," he smiled softly. "I just need to check in with G. and see if it's cool."

"He's more than welcome to join us again. You know my parents love talking with him."

He chuckled again.

"Thanks. I'm sure he'd love to. We'll call it a date, then?"

She blushed and nudged him again.

"Sounds perfect."

_***RRRRRRRRRIIINNNG!*** _

"Oh, the bell! Come on we're going to be late! I wanted to compare notes with Alya and Nino before our test today."

"Right behind you!"

They ran together into the school, a single white butterfly fluttering freely through the breeze as the sun shined down on the school full of youthful happy faces. It was going to be another beautiful, peaceful day, and everyone in Paris, even those who might be having a bad day, would be able to live their lives confident that small inconveniences were just that. Things would get better soon, and with that in mind, people were allowed to live their lives just as freely as Adrien now was. All they had to do was look on the bright side and keep moving forward, enjoying this simple peace while it lasted.

 

**THE END.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The End!I wanted to leave some mystery because for starters:  
> 1) Marinette knows Hawkmoth is still in the future thanks to Bunnix. 
> 
> 2) Adrien doesn't know what role his mom played in the miraculouses being stolen in Tibet, and he also doesn't know if anyone else (like Kagami/Chloe's parents) could be stewing up something malicious if they were involved. There is also his aunt and her role in this mystery that he needs to look out for. 
> 
> 3) Finally, I thought the concept art for the Nulls was interesting and wondered what were to happen if Plagg took the bullet for Adrien instead and got himself Akumatized just to protect his friend. I thought that would be an interesting twist in the story to play on.
> 
> Anyway, thank you all for reading, sorry it took me so long to figure out the last 3 chapters! Chat Blanc definitely helped boost the creativity. ❤️


End file.
